Rhodes - Rhodes Town and Lindos

This morning we were stranded in Rhodes. In hot temperatures of 37° we set off by bus to Lindos.

Lindos is a town on the Greek island of Rhodes. Its landmark is the Acropolis, which is located on a rock. We climbed the more than 400 steep steps (about half an hour from the car park) and worked up a sweat. Huge archways from the 4th century and reliefs from around 280 BC awaited us. Above an earlier temple is the Temple of Athena Lindia. The lower part of the site is occupied by the 14th century Knights Hospitaller Fortress. It was worth seeing, especially the wonderful view from above.

The Church of St. Mary in Lindos stands in the middle of the whitewashed houses of the town.

After we were back in our cool bus, we went back to the city of Rhodes. This consists of a modern new town and an old town that is completely surrounded by a city wall. Above the city, on Monte Smith, are the remains of an ancient acropolis. We were unable to take any pictures here due to a lack of parking. There are two harbors. The Colossus of Rhodes is said to have stood at the entrance to the ancient Mandraki harbor. In 2011, the city had 50,636 inhabitants.

The old town, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988, is partly located on a hill. At the highest point of the old town is the Palace of the Grand Master of the Order of St. John (rebuilt by the Italians between 1937 and 1940), which today houses a museum exhibiting Roman and Greek sculptures as well as numerous mosaics that found their way from Kos to Rhodes under the Italian occupation.

Adjacent to Platia Ippokratou, in the middle of which there is an owl fountain, is the Square of the Jewish Martyrs with a multilingual column in memory of the deportees and the Seahorse Fountain.

After the very informative excursion, we strolled through the beautiful old town and enjoyed a light Greek lunch.